Novel hydroxyphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) polypeptides, variants and fragments thereof, as well as polynucleotides encoding the same, capable of conferring commercial levels of conferring HPPD herbicide resistance or tolerance to plants. Compositions include amino acid sequences, and variants and fragments thereof, for HPPD polypeptides, as well as polynucleotides encoding the same. Methods for the production and use of HPPD herbicide resistant plants that express these novel HPPD polypeptides, methods for selectively controlling weeds in a field at a crop locus, and methods for the assay, characterization, identification and selection of these novel HPPDs are also provided.